disability news stories on Newser

Long Island Rail Workers Charged With Faking Injuries

Kevin Spak — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 08:16:05 CDT

The FBI charged 11 people yesterday in connection with a massive fraud scheme that saw hundreds of Long Island Rail Road workers allegedly fake disabling injuries so that they could retire early and collect their pensions. Among those arrested are two doctors who together approved cases handing $121 million to...

Social Security Disability Fund: Out of Cash by 2017

Evann Gastaldo — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 11:44:05 CDT

As Washington focuses on how to fix the Social Security retirement program, it’s the disability program that’s truly in danger—and facing insolvency, soon. Flooded with applications from an aging population and laid-off workers with disabilities who can’t find new jobs, the disability fund is now estimated to run out...

Book Scuttles Obama's Health Care Story

Kevin Spak — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 11:17:06 CDT

A recent book on President Obama’s mother undermines his oft-told story that his mother spent the final years of her life battling insurance companies over her medical bills. The book, by New York Times reporter Janny Scott, reveals that Ann Dunham actually had health insurance that readily paid her claims....

Disability Fund Is Running Out of Money—Fast

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 09:48:24 CDT

In more we're-out-of-money news : If no changes are made, the Social Security Disability Insurance fund will run dry in four to seven years, according to government auditors. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at some of the reasons why, focusing at length on Puerto Rico, one of the easiest...

NH Lawmaker: Send Mentally Ill to Siberia

Matt Cantor — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 07:24:00 CST

A 91-year-old New Hampshire lawmaker said he wished America had its own Siberia to send "defective people" to. Then "the mentally ill, the retarded, people with physical disabilities and drug addictions" could "freeze to death and die and clean up the population,” state representative Martin Harty told a constituent who...

New Comic Hero: Muslim Boy in Wheelchair

Polly Davis Doig — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 10:34:14 CDT

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's... well, this time it's something a bit different: The latest comic-book hero will be a wheelchair-bound Muslim boy who lost his legs in a landmine accident, reports the AP. The Silver Scorpion began to take shape when a US philanthropist, inspired by President...

Rules Eased for Vet PTSD Disability

Emily Rauhala — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 02:54:06 CDT

A new rule will make it easier for American veterans to get disability payments for post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD . The $5 billion plan erases the need for warriors to document the specific horror, be it bomb blast or raid, that made them sick. That's especially good news for those...

Vets With PTSD May Have Been Denied Benefits

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:09:56 CST

The military is speeding up a review of the records of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans discharged with post-traumatic stress disorder to determine whether they were improperly denied benefits. The agreement stems from a class action lawsuit filed by seven combat veterans who alleged the military illegally denied benefits...

Disabled Model Show Handicapped by Sincerity

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:43:45 CST

A British reality show about disabled women competing to win a spot as a fashion model has mostly admirable intentions, but ultimately does more harm than good. "There is something both bold and troubling about Britain’s Missing Top Model ," writes Alessandra Stanley in the New York Times . "It’s a contest...